Technology

Microsoft Outlook outage drags into Alaska's afternoon as fixes fall short

Microsoft's Outlook and Teams outage ran into Alaska's afternoon Thursday, and Microsoft says its first fixes didn't bring the relief it expected.

by Cale Green20h ago2 min read

GCI closes Quintillion purchase before Utqiagvik backup fiber line is finished

GCI now owns the Arctic coast's only fiber line. It closed the deal before the backup line to Utqiagvik was done, and the seller is chipping in to finish it.

by Walter AlaskaNews22h ago3 min read

Follows: GCI expects to close soon on its purchase of the Arctic coast's only fiber line

Alaska joins 48 attorneys general saying the FCC's robocall list is too easy to get onto

Alaska's attorney general and 48 others told the FCC its robocall gatekeeping list is too easy for bad actors to get onto, and asked for tougher rules fast.

by Walter AlaskaNews2d ago2 min read

More Alaska homes could qualify for federal internet money as challenge window grows

Over 5,000 more Alaska homes and businesses could qualify for federal internet money. The feds just gave challengers more time to try knocking some off.

by Walter AlaskaNews3d ago2 min readFrom Nov 6

FCC hasn't approved $162 million for Alaska cell service, past the October vote Trump cited

Trump told a Wasilla rally that Carr said the FCC would vote in October on $162 million for Alaska cell service. It's November, and it's still pending.

by Walter AlaskaNews6d ago3 min read

GCI says court ruling could disrupt subsidies behind nearly half its revenue

A court says the FCC illegally created the group that runs its telecom subsidy fund. GCI gets 47% of its revenue from it and can't say what that means yet.

by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago3 min read

Self-driving cars are coming to Alaska to practice in the snow

Waymo says it'll test self-driving cars in Alaska's snow this winter. The governor points to Fairbanks, where the snow stays and the sun barely shows up.

by Bill AlaskaNews1w ago4 min read

Fairbanks engineer patents a way to keep ventilators from frosting in deep cold

A Fairbanks engineer got a patent for a way to keep ventilators from frosting up in deep cold, by warming the incoming air just enough and no more.

by Melinda Communities.News1w ago2 min read

State urges Alaska schools to patch PHP flaws attackers are already using

Alaska's education department urged school districts to find every system running PHP and patch it or pull the plug, citing flaws attackers are using.

by Melinda Communities.News1w ago2 min read

Follows: Fixes are out for serious flaws in software behind dozens of Alaska websites

Musk's Grok stands apart from other AI chatbots on the Texas Senate race

Four chatbots, one Texas Senate race. Made to choose on prices, Musk's Grok said Paxton; the rest nearly always said Talarico. Allowed to pass, Grok always did.

by Alaska News1w ago3 min readFrom Oct 1

Alaska Railroad seeks outside IT help, including industrial control system security

The Alaska Railroad wants tech firms on call for eight IT areas, cybersecurity for industrial controls included. Bids due Dec. 9; emailed ones won't count.

by Melinda Communities.News1w ago2 min read

Anchorage's new Muni.org is live, but some old links now lead nowhere

Anchorage swapped its early-2000s Muni.org for a phone-friendly redesign Friday. It's paid the builder about $44,000 so far. Some old links now lead nowhere.

by Walter AlaskaNews1w ago2 min read

GM to pay Alaska $2.5 million over claims it sold driving data that reached insurers

GM will pay Alaska $2.5 million over claims it sold drivers' trip, braking and speeding data to brokers, who sold it to insurers. GM admits nothing.

by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago3 min read

GCI rival questions whether FCC's Quintillion conditions will keep wholesale prices fair

The FCC let GCI buy the Arctic fiber line serving Utqiagvik, Kotzebue and Nome. A rival met with FCC staff to question whether the deal's conditions are enough.

by Melinda Communities.News2w ago3 min readFrom Oct 23

Follows: Alaska Communications presses FCC to block or condition GCI-Quintillion sale

Fixes are out for serious flaws in software behind dozens of Alaska websites

PHP fixed two flaws that can let hackers take over web servers, no password needed. Dozens of Alaska websites use PHP. Whether they've patched isn't public.

by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago3 min read

AIDEA board approves $75 million fiber company, bars partners on restricted lists

AIDEA's board created a $75 million company to buy into undersea fiber, hoping Alaska can stop being what the resolution calls a "data cul-de-sac."

by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago3 min read

Follows: AIDEA board to vote on a $75 million company to invest in undersea internet cables

Three Alaska telecoms lay out plans for $353 million in federal broadband grants

Three telecoms holding $353 million in federal broadband grants told an Anchorage business crowd where they'll build. One expects to finish by 2030.

by Melinda Communities.News3w ago2 min read

First National Bank Alaska switches to new online banking; customers must update app

First National Bank Alaska switched to a new online banking system Monday. Customers need to update the app, redo alerts and reconnect Quicken. Homework time.

by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read

Alaska House members ask FCC to preserve E-Rate school internet discounts

Twenty-one Alaska House members asked the FCC to preserve E-Rate, which discounts school internet. Alaska's own school broadband grant depends on it.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readFrom Oct 7

Follows: The FCC review that could end E-Rate is filed under children and screens

FCC clears SpaceX to send satellite service straight to phones in Alaska and the rest of the U.S.

The FCC cleared SpaceX to beam service from 15,000 planned satellites straight to phones, Alaska included, with no wireless carrier in the middle.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Alaska Communications presses FCC to block or condition GCI-Quintillion sale

Alaska Communications asked the FCC to block or restrict GCI's $310 million purchase of Quintillion unless rivals get guaranteed access to the undersea fiber network at regulated prices.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago5 min readFrom May 19

Follows: GCI is buying the only fiber link connecting Alaska's Arctic coast to the state

Federal government takes back $5.56 million Alaska digital equity grant

The feds took back $5.56 million meant for Alaska digital skills classes, devices and internet access. What's left: $67,466, about 1.2% of the award.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readFrom Sep 4

Alaska library internet grants delayed as E-Rate comments come due

State grants that help Alaska libraries pay their internet bills are running late, held up by federal E-Rate paperwork. Award letters are coming soon.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Alaska Native students in Juneau and Klawock to pitch tech prototypes to Elders

Alaska Native students in Juneau and Klawock will build tech prototypes this fall to solve community problems, then pitch them to Elders and industry leaders.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Tech executives sign voluntary AI safety accord with Trump, who orders agencies to call AI 'SI'

Six tech executives signed a voluntary AI safety accord with Trump featuring self-policing and no government enforcement.

by Alaska News1mo ago1 min read

FCC reconsiders how it sets rural clinic telecom subsidies, 97% of which go to Alaska

Alaska gets 97% of a federal subsidy that helps rural clinics pay for connectivity, and the FCC wants to rethink how it's calculated. Comments due Wednesday.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago3 min read

FCC weighs new ways to set prices for rural Alaska clinics' internet and phone service

A federal telecom subsidy that's about 97% Alaska is up for a rewrite. The FCC wants comments by Wednesday on how rural clinic internet prices get set.

by Melinda Communities.News1mo ago2 min read

Aniak's Bush-Tell has drawn more than $12 million in federal support to serve river villages

An Aniak phone company has drawn more than $12 million in federal support to keep calls and internet running in villages along the Kuskokwim and Yukon.

by Melinda Communities.News1mo ago2 min read

Homer asks FCC to keep internet discount that covers most of the public library's bill

Homer's library gets $11,970 a year from a federal internet discount the FCC is reviewing. The City Council would like it left alone, please.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readFrom Sep 14

Follows: Alaska superintendents ask FCC not to cut school internet subsidy

The FCC review that could end E-Rate is filed under children and screens

The federal review that could end E-Rate is filed under a docket about children and screens. The program does not pay for a single screen at all.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read

Four Yukon villages get money for broadband design, not construction

Four Yukon River villages are getting broadband drawings, not broadband. The trunk line they would connect to is now 17 months behind schedule.

by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Federal grant of $500,000 would replace generators on the mountaintop relays that carry Akhiok's internet

A $500,000 federal grant will replace aging generators and batteries at two mountain relays that carry internet to Akhiok, a remote village on Kodiak Island.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min readFrom Aug 31

Fiber easement for four Koyukuk River villages grows to 96 acres, and comments close Oct. 12

Tanana Chiefs Conference expanded a fiber optic easement to 96 acres to bring high-speed internet to four Koyukuk River villages, with public comments due Oct. 12.

by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

The University of Alaska owns the look of a Fairbanks man's pliers

A Fairbanks man designed a pair of pliers and the university owns how they look for 15 years. If it passes on selling them, he gets them back.

by Alaska News2mo ago1 min read

Homer's library is asking the state to cover part of its internet bill

Homer's library wants $5,130 from the state toward its internet bill. That is less than last year, for the pleasant reason that the bill went down.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min readFrom Aug 10

E-Rate payments send $335,276 to broadband in three Alaska towns

Keeping King Salmon connected took $302,400 in a single federal payment. The FCC is now reviewing whether to keep the program that paid for it.

by Melinda Communities.News2mo ago2 min read

Rural Alaska's internet funding is changing hands as an old federal program ends

The federal program funding phone and internet in remote Alaska is ending, and three co-ops just drew some of its last payments — $14.86 million.

by Melinda Communities.News2mo ago2 min read

GCI is buying the only fiber link connecting Alaska's Arctic coast to the state

GCI, Alaska's biggest telecom, is buying the only wired link between the Arctic coast and the rest of the state for $310 million, a route rivals depend on.

by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago2 min read

Alaska schools fight FCC proposals that could cut their internet lifeline

Alaska schools rely on $200 million a year in discounted internet through E-Rate, and education groups are fighting FCC proposals that could cut it back.

by Melinda Communities.Newsadded 2mo ago2 min read

A $2.5 million geothermal training grant for Unalaska sits 3 percent spent

Unalaska abandoned its Makushin geothermal project in May 2025, but a $2.5 million federal training grant tied to it remains open and largely unspent with only $75,000 spent so far.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago3 min read